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An American (BR) WIS in Paris

It’s been a busy week for me in Paris but the highlight of my trip was the planned visit to the Bell & Ross Headquarters, the B&R Village Royale Boutique and the GTG with the french BR0s.

My first few days in France have been full of sightseeing in Paris and a quick trip to Nice.

My girlfriend, Lisa, had meticulously planned our trip had left a nice big gap for our my “Bell & Ross” day and she thankfully put up with all of my watch stops for the day.

I was going to visit the B&R HQ in the late afternoon and our agenda was open, so we decided to stop by the B&R Boutique at Village Royal in hopes that Julien aka @Gudzyy would be working. He was, of course, so we we able to catch up for the first time in person since we met in New York two years ago.

I hadn’t seen any of the 2015 models in person yet, so I was anxious to try them on. While at the boutique I was able to try on the new BR 03-94 Ceramic Matte and Heritage as well as the amazing BR-X1 Carbon Forge. Both watches were great and I really think the black ceramic 03-94 might be my next Bell & Ross watch. My girlfriend is convinced I need the BR Wall Clock for my apartment…

While we were chatting, Joe (J_Dubbs on the form and @jazzypantsyeah on IG) happened to stop by at the same time so we had a mini GTG at the boutique and we discussed his possible upcoming BR01 Airspeed purchase and I got to check out his old school BR Space 1.

My lady and I said our goodbyes, and went and grabbed some lunch at the famous Angelina’s hot chocolate before heading to the B&R HQ.

I arrived at the HQ and was pleasantly greeted by the receptionist who kindly let me me take some hop in the well known jet in the lobby.

Welcomed by Antonion and Pierre, I was allowed to browse the showroom and admire all of the wonderful display cases, art and photos.

They brought me many watch trays full of this year’s new models and I was able to try on some of my favorites like the Desert Type, Military Type Ceramic, Edicion Limitada.

I was even able to get up close and personal with the X1 Tourbillon!

We discussed much about B&R and my Bell & Ross Wiki site and even had some champagne. We took some group photos with the "Carlos style" wrist pose (vintage B&R Function on Antonin and 03-94 Commando on Pierre) and bid each other adieu as we’d meet up again later in the evening at the BRGang GTG.

It was a small reunion where we met at Le Mom, a common BRGang GTG spot, a bit later. Jean-Baptiste (IG @watchak), Mathieu (IG @untempsaparis), and Antonin were already there having their first mojitos. Just a bit after we arrived, Julien and Joe arrived as well. We had some drinks outside and had our first table shot discussing all of the watches that the group had brought.

It was a bit hot out, so we moved inside to continue our GTG in the air conditioning and order some food. Those that know me well, know that my food palate is less than adventurous, but the BRGang fellas were able to convince me to try foie gras and a few other French delicacies.

The night, of course, would not be complete with the signature BR sandwich, built by the Julien.

We ended the night with another round of a drinks at another BRGang favorite, Le Général,

I really want to thank Antonin, Pierre, and everyone at the Bell & Ross headquarters for inviting me, the French forum members who let them know I was coming , Julien for this tour of the BR boutique, and Jean-Baptiste for setting up the BRGang GTG. We've felt welcomed by everyone this entire trip and feel like an honorary member of the BRGang (I now have the patch and key ring to prove it ).

excellent write-up Sean and it looks like a great time! There is definitely something unique about the BR community - I don't know any other online group this friendly and welcoming. Glad to see such a good turn out for the gtg and an awesome table full of watches!!

I noticed they've got a banner on the front of the forums linking to this thread... Wearing my Airspeed right now and happened to click on this, what a great GTG that was, nice thread here- gotta do it again sometime!